Tuesday, April 9, 2013

My first visit to a Korean doctor

After playing ultimate last weekend, I found my plantar fasciitis has flared up again. This time, worse than ever. I have been limping around unable to put full pressure on it. Walking on the side of my foot, straining my ankle and lower back, I finally hobbled over to the doctor's office in hopes that he could give me a brace or something.

The doctor confirmed my self diagnosis by telling me it was plantar fasciitis (without touching my foot! He's very intuitive). Then he prescribed me an anti-inflammatory, told me to keep off it, alternate between hot and cold packs, and wear soft shoes. No brace was recommended, but I'm going to order one on Amazon anyway. Just to sleep with and to support it. He also asked me if I had time for physical therapy (PT), to which I answered yes. I've been having trouble with my right foot since I moved to Korea and I thought some PT was exactly what I needed.

Doctor's form all in Korean - should I sign???
 
Little did I know, PT in Korea was not what I was expecting. There were no stretches or massaging of the muscle. Instead, they put me in a heating pad for 20 mins, then electrocuted my calf muscle (not even my foot!) with these suction cup things, and finally rubbed the sole of my foot with a gel and put me under a heat lamp. I have no idea what any of it was for, but as soon as I got off the bed, my foot was still throbbing like earlier.
 

Marks on my leg left behind from the electrocution cups
The one behind my knee tickled and hurt - I could stop giggling!
 
After leaving PT, I picked up my drugs, which always come in a pack with many unknown pills. The pharmacist said two of them were anti-inflammatories and the other two were digestives. Three times a day, for three days. $8.20 later ($5.40 for the doctor, $2.80 for the drugs, and apparently nothing for PT), I walked my confused self home and kept off of my foot for the night. Hopefully it feels better soon!

Pills

1 comment:

  1. Hope you're feeling better!! The mild electricity and heat is suppose to stimulate blood flow to improve healing so you probably wouldn't feel immediate results anyways. Not sure why they put it on the leg, but I guess everything is connected, hopefully in a year from now I'll know enough anatomy to tell you! :D Those suction cups look pretty serious though lol. I guess this means those TOMS haven't helped at all. :(

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